Paytm Earns Majority Indian Ownership, Boosts Investor Confidence

One 97 Communications Ltd, operating Paytm, is now majority Indian-owned. As of March 2026, domestic investors hold 50.3% stake due to increased shares from mutual funds and insurers. The company shows strong profits, a growing merchant base, and enhanced monetization, prompting brokerage upgrades for better profitability prospects.

One 97 Communications Ltd, the operator of the Paytm brand, has become a majority Indian-owned entity. By March 2026, domestic investors had increased their stake to 50.3%, signaling a strategic ownership transformation. Shareholding by homegrown investors has surged, illustrating burgeoning confidence in the fintech firm.

Domestic institutional investors upped their stake to 23.1% by the March quarter, a rise of 2.8 percentage points sequentially and 9.1 percentage points from the previous year, as shown in regulatory filings. Notably, mutual funds led this growth, boosting their interest from 14.3% to 16.6%, with a rise in participating funds from 36 to 41, including Motilal Oswal, Mirae Asset, and Bandhan Mutual Fund. Insurance firms like Tata AIA Life Insurance and SBI Life Insurance also expanded their holdings, pushing combined stakes to 5.1% from 4.8%.

Concurrently, Paytm's operational performance has been on an upswing. The firm reported its third consecutive profitable quarter, with a net profit of Rs 225 crore and a 20% year-on-year revenue increase reaching Rs 2,194 crore. With a merchant base expanding by 24% to surpass 1.44 crore subscription merchants, brokers like Bank of America have upgraded its stock, lauding Paytm's strong monetization efforts, especially in merchant payments and lending.